FTP! There is going to be plenty of “debate” about the QB the rest of this season. I kind of wish that KOC and JJ would keep more things “in-house” and not offer too many details about what they are working on. He is going to need time is all it is. There are no shortcuts. The flashes are there to give plenty of hope. But patience is hard to come by at times. What to do? Mock!
Minnesota Vikings News and Links
Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy is ‘rewiring neurological pathways’ on the fly
“It’s very new,” he said. “Coming in here, I was taught how to play quarterback in a very different way. And that’s expected going into the league, going into any new team, any new system. But at the end of the day, it was really just the injuries that I felt like took away all those reps to make those a habit and make them concrete, like (Kevin O’Connell) always talks about.”
“It’s really hard,” he said. “You’re rewiring neurological pathways, and that’s not something that happens overnight. Just understanding and giving myself that grace, that patience, that I might not have it today, but it’s something that I’m gonna continue to strive after, day after day, rep after rep, and get to the place where we all want me to be. Anything new, like tying your shoe, takes time. Especially playing at the level of the National Football League.”
“These defenses are not simple,” he said. “There’s a lot of protection plan that takes up a lot of brain space. Obviously, the new concepts going in week after week, the coverages. And those little things about your fundamentals slip sometimes. So I feel like the more preparation I can do throughout the week, to make sure those things are to a T, gives me more brain space to work on the consistency of those little things.”
“For me, I kind of make the analogy of a cork about to come off a bottle,” he said. “Understanding that it’s one to three little things that I need to change about my game that is gonna make a huge difference in the outcome of every single drive in the game. I feel like it’s really close, but it all comes down to consistency of the fundamentals and the little details.”
“I would say just my posture,” McCarthy said. “The way that I’m processing the defense, in terms of, I know what I’m getting, but let the rhythm of the play play out. Don’t be getting to that answer too quick, because it’s a timing in rhythm of the concepts and the defenses. And just decision-making. Understanding the situation of the game, not just the concept that I’m trying to execute. Like, for instance, that first pick last game, it’s four minutes going into half, we’re on our own side of the territory, and just understand what that risk factor should be and go from there.”
Yore Mock
Cap Space Work
Carry over cap space : $14,612,211
Starting 2026 Cap space : ($37,058,572) note: carry over cap space not included here
Release or Trade O’Neill saves 19.5M in cap space – 31 years old on Sept 15, 2026
Release or Trade Hockenson saves 8.93M in cap space – 29 years old on July 3, 2026
Release Jones saves 7.2M in cap space – 31 years old on Dec 2, 2025
Release Hargrave saves 11M in cap space – 33 years old on Feb 7, 2026
Release Kelly saves 12.1M in cap space – 33 years old on May 30, 2026
Smith retires or is cut post June 1 – 37 years old on Feb 2, 2026
O’Neill has been a bit too injured of late and investing more money is probably not going to end well
Hockenson was paid like the top tight end in 2023 (or close) and has not performed well enough
Jones is old for running backs and gets dinged up often
Hargrave is aight but Redmond is and should get more snaps
Kelly is too risky
After these moves the team should have 36.3M in cap space (including the current carry over amount) and the only free agent they might consider giving an extension to is Redmond. Redmond is an Exclusive Right Free Agent who they can tender for 1.075M. I would try to extend him early though but not necessarily at the start of free agency.
DraftTrade Partner: JaguarsSent: Pick 76Received: Pick 82, 160…
Pick 12. Spencer Fano OT Utah 6’6” 308Pick 44. Dillon Thieneman S Oregon 6’0” 205Pick 82. Deontae Lawson LB Alabama 6’2” 228Pick 97. Darrell Jackson JR DT FSU 6’5” 337Pick 160. Logan Jones IOL Iowa 6’3” 302Pick 171. Bryce Lance WR North Dakota State 6’3” 209Pick 208. Clev Lubin EDGE Louisville 6’3” 250Pick 227. Taylen Green QB Arkansas 6’6”235Pick 236. Xavier Nwankpa S Iowa 6’2” 213
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